Abstract: The article deals with the ecosystem conditions and main phases of colonization of the terrestrial environment by higher plants. The most important finds of the higher plants in pre-Silurian deposits are discussed. A plant attributed to a new genus and speciesVolkhoviella primitivaNaug., Gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Middle Ordovician deposits of the Leningrad region, Russia. General questions of early evolution of terrestrial plants are reviewed.